This is a photo taken at Jetty Park in Port Canaveral, FL, of the Endeavor’s liftoff last week. The long exposure (about 6 minutes) allows you to see the different light diffractions in the illuminated trail of the craft’s exhaust arc.
State Farm Insurance requested a 47% rate increase for providing insurance to homeowners in some of Florida’s coastal areas. The rate increase was denied so State Farm sent cancellation notices to about 125,000 policy holders.
CNN reports on the snow and cold weather that have hit the eastern United States. Freezing temperatures are damaging crops in the south and heavy snows snarl traffic in northern states.
The books in the Roadside Geology series will help you learn about the geology of your favorite state. These books are great to take on a trip but they work even better if you use them in advance to plan your trip wisely.
Between 2005 and 2007 the housing boom and hurricane rebuilding caused a shortage of drywall in some southern US states. To meet the demand drywall was imported from China and used in many homes. Now some of that drywall is causing corrosion of metal objects in these homes and residents are concerned that exposure might lead to health problems.
The Strategic Risk website has a list of the top ten natural disasters of the past century and what they would cost in today’s dollars with today’s land use. The New Madrid Earthquake of 1812 and the Miami Hurricane of 1926 top the lists with over $100 billion in current damages.
The Atlantis launch on Monday was successful, and the space shuttle has begun its 11-day journey. It is bringing supplies to the International Space Station, and will be returning home with ISS engineer Nicole Stott. This article links to a video of the launch.
As Tropical Storm Ida approached the Gulf coast energy companies began shutting down drilling platforms and other facilities to avoid damage during the storm.
Tropical Storm Ida is heading to the US Gulf coast where it is expected to dump up to eight inches of heavy rain. A tropical storm warning is in effect from Grand Isle, Louisiana to the Aucilla River of Florida.
Hurricane Ida is moving north through the Gulf of Mexico and a hurricane watch has been issued for Gulf coast areas between Grand Isle, Louisiana and Mexico Beach, Florida. The National Hurricane Information Center will be updating maps of the storm’s projected path on their website.
Should Florida allow oil and gas drilling in their offshore waters? It could bring in a lot of revenue but it could also have an environmental impact. How much money and how much impact are key questions.
This image shows estimates of rainfall for the southeastern United States from September 14–21 produced by the near-real-time, multi-satellite precipitation analysis at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The highest rainfall amounts—more than 300 millimeters —appear in blue. The lightest amounts appear in pale green. Especially intense rainfall occurred in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and northern Florida. Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.
There is not a single wind farm in Florida, however, FPL Group, a power company with a primary business of providing electricity to Florida homes and businesses, now operates wind power stations at 65 locations in 16 states and Canada.
National Geographic reports that Africa’s largest snake, the African rock python is reproducing in the wild in Florida. This is a 20-foot-long ill-tempered snake.
The Florida Geological Survey has a lot of information on their website about sinkholes and subsidence. They have technical and nontechnical publications, a sinkhole database, consumer information and the “Florida’s Sinkholes” poster shown at right. You can view the poster online as a .pdf document. It has a sinkhole incidence map, sinkhole hazards map, cross-sections of sinkhole development, sinkhole photos and much more. If you are buying real estate in Florida it is a good idea to know about subsidence because subsidence problems are often not covered by homeowner’s insurance.
The 2009 hurricane season is off to a slow start but Tropical Storm Claudette is about to be the first storm that makes landfall in the United States – near the Florida-Alabama border. From the National Hurricane Center…
“A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THE ALABAMA/FLORIDA BORDER EASTWARD TO THE SUWANNEE RIVER FLORIDA. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED SOMEWHERE WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN 24 HOURS.”
Dangerous pythons up to 200 pounds in weight and 12 feet in length are not uncommon in Florida since a reptile farm was damaged during Hurricane Andrew. One expert estimates that over 100,000 pythons are now crawling around the southern portion of the state.
Stormwater runoff and sewage contaminate many US beaches. A study done by the Natural Resources Defense Council sampled, tested and rated 200 of the most popular beaches in the United States – both ocean and freshwater beaches were included in the study. Some of them had consistently high water quality and some had consistently low. You can view the report and a listing of the beaches on their website.
The Gulf Stream is the most powerful ocean current on Earth, and has potential as an energy source. Turbines placed underwater could convert the current into energy for millions of people in Florida.
The U.S. Global Change Research Program released a report that explains how climate change might impact Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Stronger hurricanes, drought, heat waves and crop losses are a few of the featured problems.
USGS published: Water Quality and Evaluation of Pesticides in Lakes in the Ridge Citrus Region of Central Florida. This report presents the results of a water sampling program of lakes in the citrus growing part of the state.
“Consistent detections of parents and degradates in quarterly samples indicated the presence of pesticide compounds in the lakes many months or years after their application, signaling the persistence of some pesticide compounds in the lakes and/or ground-water systems.”
NASA produced a map that shows the areas on Earth that have the highest frequency of lightning. You might be surprised when you learn about the areas that experience the most lightning.
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Hobart King
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